


How I Adore You

by iceprinceholmes



Category: The Kind Older Sister is No More | 착한 언니는 없다
Genre: Gen, Not Canon Compliant, Soft Irene, William adores Irene, William ready to protect, but it is immoral ship, immoral, in here we love william/irene, this is immoral, very subtle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 06:07:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29413857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iceprinceholmes/pseuds/iceprinceholmes
Summary: At one point in his lifetime, William might call himself as an affectionate person. He adored his son and grandson to the point that he would move heaven and earth for the two. However, he knew that in Noel’s eyes he was a cold-hearted person. In his defense, it was just him being stubborn about not wanting to admit his mistakes.Until that child visited him.
Relationships: Irene Chase/Noel Kristan, William von Kristan & Irene Chase, William von Kristan/Irene Chase (implied)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	How I Adore You

**Author's Note:**

> I swear before anyone come at me and demand an explanation ---- Pom and I just love Daddy William okay. This is bound to happen. Noel is still Irene's boo so don't worry... I will write them soon

At one point in his lifetime, William might call himself as an affectionate person. He adored his son and grandson to the point that he would move heaven and earth for the two. However, he knew that in Noel’s eyes he was a cold-hearted person. In his defense, it was just him being stubborn about not wanting to admit his mistakes.

Until that child visited him.

Irene Chase was someone that he never thought would be the person that able to crack his resolves. She was ordinary but has a certain charm to her that he couldn’t forget. The first time he first saw her face was when she was crying after sharing her pain with him. It was an expression that he didn’t want to ever see again.

The second time he saw her, it was after Noel had informed him that Irene would be staying with them for the foreseeable future. He could deduce what happened with her family and the thought that someone had hurt her anger him. He was not a good person, but he knew that Irene should be treated as a precious person.

Well, all in all, the idea that Irene was staying in the Grand Duchy already elated him. He had to hold himself back from asking her to come meet him for tea as he didn’t want to burden her with such request. However, he couldn’t stop smiling when he managed to get a glimpse of her walking around in the garden.

***

“Sire, are you sure you want to go by yourself? I can handle the errand myself.”

“No, I need to do it myself so you can handle the rest of the paperwork until I return.”

William dismissed his private aide as he put on his coat, getting ready for his trip to the city. He rarely ventured to the city by himself unless it was absolutely necessary, it had been like that since his eldest grandson had died. Usually, he would send his private secretary for his errands but he had decided to do this one by himself.

One thing that he didn’t except was to run into Irene in the hallway. He automatically reached out his hand forward, ready to catch her if she fell down from the collision.

“Where are you going in such a hurry, dear?”

“I was on my way to sir Tom to rent a carriage.”

“Carriage? Are you going out?” William raised his brow, surprised at her words.

“Yes, I have something to buy urgently.”

“Without an escort?” He looked behind her back, noticing that there was not even a personal maid following behind her, and frowned slightly.

He knew that the head butler had assigned a maid-in-waiting for Irene during her stay but to see her about to head out to the city without one was absurd. He frowned slightly as he looked at her and found her awkwardly fidgeting as her expression turned that into confusion.

He couldn’t help but remember about what he told him few days ago and her family situation that caused her to stay in the Grand Duchy for the time being.

_‘…perhaps she never has an escort before.’_

The anger that he had toward her family was bubbling back to live but William only clenched his fist and cleared his throat.

“Well, you have excellent timing then. Why don’t you join me, dear?”

_‘If she has no escort, then I should offer myself to be hers.’_

“Pardon? With Your Excellency?”

The surprised in her tone almost hurt his heart and he wondered for a moment if he had crossed a line with the offer. However, he didn’t want to let her go on her own and there was also the fact that he wanted to spend some time with her.

“Why? You don’t want to?”

“It’s not that. I want to.”

“That’s good. Then let’s head to the carriage together.” William smiled at her answer and gestured her to follow him.

When he felt her walking by his side, that he able to feel her warmth, William couldn’t stop smiling with pure joy. He had a feeling that Noel, who was still wary of him, would never willingly let Irene spend some time with him alone, so he wanted to enjoy this as much as he could.

Every now and then he would glance at Irene and his smiled seemed to bloom even more. She has a delicate beauty, almost akin to flower that bloom late in spring time. At first glance, you might think her to be a cold person but the longer you looked at her face you could see the tenderness from her eyes. There also something about her face that seemed familiar to him, but he couldn’t really pin point exactly who. But he knew it was someone from the past.

“Take my hand and climb up carefully, my dear.” William reached out his hand toward her after opening the carriage’s door.

He watched as Irene hesitated for a moment before she put her delicate hand top of his larger one. The size different between their hand made it easily for William to cover her hand completely with his. It almost looked like she would break if he put too much pressure on her hand.

_‘A delicate flower indeed.’_

William smiled slightly at the thought as he lifted Irene up without any trouble and safely helped Irene climbed the carriage. Once he made sure the she was already seated, he entered the carriage and sat opposite of her. This was the third time that he able to properly looked at her in broad daylight.

He let his eyes travel from her head, where her wheat-colored hair styled naturally framing her soft face just the right way. He noticed that she didn’t wear any make-up on her face and yet her skin seemed to glow beautifully. The dress that she was wearing was simple light peach dress that made her olive oil shone brighter. And her eyes….

Her eyes were staring at his face.

“Is there something on my face?”

“Ah! I-I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright, don’t worry.” William shook his head, let out a small chuckle at her startled reaction. “Anyway, what were you going to buy in the city, my dear?”

“Oh…. I’m going to buy a dress”

“A dress you say?”

“Yes. I’m going to an exhibition with Noel tomorrow, so I thought it would be nice to find a dress for the occasion.”

As she explained herself, William couldn’t help but smiling fondly at her. She was utterly precious and kind child that he wanted to dote on her even more. He wondered what kind of dress would do justice to her soft beauty. He had seen few times the trend of the high society, but he didn’t think that Irene would suit any of them. She was someone that needed a personal touch – she couldn’t wear something that the rest of the society wore because she was special.

“You could have told me. I would have ordered beautiful and good quality dresses for you.”

William knew that Irene had came to the house without any personal belongings and that Noel had asked Tom to prepare the every day dresses that she would need during her stay in the manor. However, he truly believed that Irene deserved one-of-a-kind dresses.

“Thank you for saying that. But since it is a dress that I will wear for a special event, I wanted to buy it myself.”

He should not be surprised that Irene turned down his offer. He already knew from the first day that Irene was this kind of person. She wouldn’t want to burden others if she able to do something herself.

“If you said it like that, then it must be so.” William hummed, decided not to push the matter even more but told the coachman to bring them to boutique in the city.

“My dear.” He called out for Irene, once she had got off from the carriage finally arrived at the boutique, “go ahead first. I have a place I need to stop by first but I will meet you back here.”

“Right Please take care.”

William felt a bit disappointment that he couldn’t properly escort her to the shop and helped her to pick the dress she wanted. For now, he needed to pick up the gift he had ordered.

***

“Your Excellency, welcome.”

William looked around the quiet jewelry store before his gaze focused on the manager that was waiting not far from his side. The man somehow managed not to waver upon seeing his gaze, something that mere mortal wouldn’t able to do.

“Albert. I take you have finished my order?”

“Yes, sire. We have finished your order.” The man, Albert, nodded his head eagerly and ushered William to the waiting table. “If you want you can che---.”

“No, just packed the rings and I will be on my way.”

The manager startled when he was cut off by quickly did as he was told. William hummed as he looked at the jewels that were on display, wondering which one would suit Irene the most. He had picked a simple silver ring with diamond at the center for Irene and a simple silver ring for Noel to compliment her ring.

When he had accepted Irene to his house, he knew that he wanted her to be part of his family. He wanted to dote on her and so he had decided to order a ring for silver diamond ring for her. However, his private aide had suggested that he should order one for Noel too. William wasn’t sure if Noel would accept anything from him, but this would be a start to also mend his relationship with his only grandson.

Although the thought that his grandson would wear a same ring as Irene made him ache in some way that he couldn’t explain. Perhaps next time he would order something just for Irene – a necklace and earrings to complete her look.

With the thought of Irene wearing a set of jewelry that he had personally designed and chose; William smiled and took the velvet box from Albert and bid his goodbye.

“Send some of your designs for young noble lady to my office by next week, I might make another order with you.”

“I will Your Excellency. Thank you for trusting us.”

William hummed and made his way out of the shop and returned to the carriage. It had been ten minutes since he had left Irene at the boutique and he would need another five before he could see her again. He hoped that she hadn’t picked her dress or tried one. He wanted to have the pleasure watch her eyes lit up with happiness as she tried those dresses and finally chose the one, she wanted.

The sight of smiling Irene was rare and William wanted to see it one more. He was jealous that his grandson continued to be the person that able to see that or hear her laugh. It was irrational and yet he wanted to be receiving end of that smile. He had saw that smile one time from the window of his office and when Irene had her walk with his grandson. She looked like a flower that bloomed and ethereal.

He had thought that when he arrived at the boutique, he would find Irene contemplating between few dresses but he didn’t expect to enter to the story at the sight of Irene standing in the middle of it with another woman who was ready to slap her face.

“What on earth is going on exactly?” He growled, glaring at everyone in the boutique as he made his way toward Irene.

From the back, he could tell that her very carefully styled hair had became wet with some sort of juice. He could even see some of the stain at the back of her dress and as he got closer, he could see that it wasn’t just her hair but even her face had glistened because of the juice.

He had to stop himself from growling or lashing out at the culprit who had hurt and humiliated his darling.

“What happened to your hair….?” He stopped next to her, trying to control the rage inside him as he didn’t want to scare Irene. It wasn’t her fault and yet she had her head bowed, avoiding his gaze.

“It’s nothing really. I’m alright.”

Her answer only anger William even more. Of course, she would say that she was fine as she didn’t want to burden him or caused a scene. But she was under his protection and he couldn’t let anyone humiliate and treat her like this.

“What are you doing just standing there without even giving her something to wipe the mess?” William barked at the attendant that stood close enough to them.

The man hurriedly moved, retrieving a handkerchief to help Irene to dry herself. It made him wondered why the attendant didn’t do anything earlier. The idea that all the attendants decided to ignore Irene and left her humiliated only left bitter taste in William’s mouth. He needed to have a conversation with the owner, but first of all – he looked around the room, from Irene to the lady that was standing front of Irene, trying to figure out what happened.

“Are you hurt anywhere, dear?” William asked softly as he took the handkerchief from the attendant and handed it to Irene, “Is anything else bother you? It’s okay to tell me…”

When Irene didn’t say anything, William’s warmth eyes turned cold and turned to look at the other lady and her escort. Clearly, this person was the one that had humiliated Irene – after all she was ready to slap his beloved. Even though, he didn’t know what caused the commotion, William knew that Irene wouldn’t be the person that started it all.

“Were you the ones, shameless people, that left her in this state?”

His voice had turned even colder than before as he addressed the two. He didn’t know what kind of expression he was making but his personal secretary once said that he made quite a scary expression. It was like facing an angry bear ready to attack his prey.

He continued to glare at the young lady while she kept glancing at Irene while trembling. William almost hissed as he stepped to the side, hiding Irene for her view. They weren’t worthy to lay their shameless eyes on Irene and he should collect information about the lady’s house so he could teach a valuable lesson after they had humiliated someone that was under is protection.

“Lady Rosie.”

Irene’s soft voice snapped William from his own mussing and he turned to look at her. He was surprised that Irene had lifted her head, looking at the other lady head on.

“I didn’t ignore the sincerity of the Lady. It’s alright without doing compensation. However, I don’t think it’s good to try weigh down a person with the authority of your family’s name.”

William stiffened as he heard Irene’s words and glanced at Lady Rosie once again. It was clear that the young Lady Rosie decided to humiliate Irene and then tried to exert her authority over her because she had seen Irene as someone who was beneath her. The very thought that Irene had gone through that on her own, because no one in the whole boutique decided to help was sickening. William couldn’t help but glared at everyone in the room.

“My dear, did you at least find the dress you wanted?” William moved closer to her side after calming himself and remembered the reason why they were in the boutique in the first place. He carefully put his hand on her back, hovering slightly.

“No, I haven’t found one yet.”

William frowned at her answer and ready to say something when the owner rushed forward trying to offer his service to her. However, William already had enough – he knew why all the attendants didn’t help Irene earlier. It was because the owner himself had looked down at Irene.

“That’s enough.” William said coldly as he guided Irene to walk out from the shop. “I don’t think we’ll ever come to this place again. Let’s leave this place, my dear.”

He gave one last sneered at the owner and everyone in the room before he opened the door and escorted Irene out of the place. He couldn’t help but blame himself for what Irene had experienced. If he had stayed with her, she would able to enjoy herself picking dresses for her.

After helping Irene climbed up to the carriage, William just stayed silence – not knowing what to say to her. It wasn’t really his fault, but he thought it was something that he could have prevented if he stayed by Irene’s side.

He let out a quiet sight and let his eyes focused on Irene. There was no longer trace of wetness on her hair, but he could see that her hair and became sticky in certain parts. The dark stain on her dress had dried off but he could still spot them if he looked hard enough. Even if she didn’t say anything or complain about what happened, William could tell that she must have been hurt by the incident.

“My dear.” He called softly, startling her. “..were you surprised earlier?”

“It’s all right. I’m fine now.”

The smile on her face was awkward, something that he didn’t really want to see. It almost as if she forced herself so he wouldn’t worry. Internally, he sighed when he saw her face was still a bit wet. He quietly pulled out his handkerchief and leaned forward, carefully wiping the wetness from her face.

“Y-Your Excellency?!”

“That’s a relief that you are all right now. If something comes up again, make sure to tell me then.”

William said softly as he looked her right in her olive eyes. Their distance had become closer since he leaned forward. He could scent a sweet aroma coming from Irene, something vanilla, and hear her breathing. The longer he stared at her face, her cheeks had turned redder than before and William seemed to be captivated by the sight.

“Y-Your Excellency…?” Irene called him, this time her voice almost sounded like a whisper and William swore that her words were said right against his face but before he could do anything he pulled back and cleared his throat.

“…just make sure to inform me if something bothering you and keep the handkerchief, I noticed that you don’t have one dear.” He said once more and handed his handkerchief to Irene’s hand.

“…Yes, thank you.”

He hummed satisfied at her answer, leaned back against his seat and kept his eyes on Irene as she folded his handkerchief slowly and held on to it. He smiled at the sight and his heart just brimmed with joy. Her dainty fingers wrapped around his handkerchief – something that was his were now belongs to Irene.

“I don’t know wha---!”

Just as he going to tell Irene about his gift, the carriage shook and he automatically reached out when he saw Irene falling forward.

“Ohh…”

It was reminisced of their meeting this morning, except this time he had his arms wrapped around her waist while her face pressed against his strong broad chest.

“Are you alright, my dear?”

“Y-Yes… I… I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize.” William said softly as he looked down at how Irene’s face was still nestled against his chest. “This can happen, you just need to find comfortable place.”

He hummed as he lifted her by her small waist and helped her returned to her seat.

“There. Are you alright? Nothing hurt?”

“Yes…. I-I’m fine. Thank you.”

William smiled softly and unconsciously reached out to put a strand of her hair behind her ear which caused the redness on her cheek to return.

“That’s good to know.”

He hummed and after he was sure that Irene was safe in her seat, he returned back to his own while his mind couldn’t stop thinking about the way she felt against his chest.

“Ehm… Your Excellency…”

William looked up at Irene’s face, noticing that she was fidgeting slightly.

“What were you trying to say earlier?”

“Oh… yes… it’s---

***

William might have thought that with Irene in their life, his relationship with Noel would be fixed naturally. He knew that it wasn’t that easy, but he thought if it was Irene, she might help him to fix the bridge between them.

“Thank you for today.”

Irene’s soft voice break his musings and William looked up at her face as he helped her got down from the carriage.

“I had a great time with you. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a casual conversation with someone. Thank you, my dear.”

He watched as her face blushed at his words and it made look quite adorable.

“My dear, thank you once again and… I’m sorry.”

William said softly and lifted her hand, giving a kiss at the back of her hand.

“Me too. Thank you, once again today.”


End file.
